The following books and papers are available to borrow free of charge to facilitate informed choices in Pregnancy and Birth and other parenting issues

Birth Your Way
Sheila Kitzinger

The Mirage of Choice (AIMS Paper)
The word "choice" often masks an agenda which aims to get as many women as possible to give birth in hospital, in spite of evidence which shows this is not always the safest option. This paper examines the risks women take, for themselves and their babies, in deciding to give birth in a hospital.

Am I Allowed
Beverley Beech
Your rights and options through Pregnancy and Birth

Whats Right For Me?
Sara Wickham
Making the right choice of maternity care

Your Birth Rights
Pat Thomas
A practical guide to womens rights and choices in pregnancy and childbirth

Ultrasound Unsound?
Beverly Beech
A review of ultrasound research, including AIMS concerns over its expanding routine use in pregnancy

Ultrasound - Weighing the Propaganda Against the Facts (AIMS Paper)
A paper which questions the value of routine ultrasound screening. Based on research evidence which has been published since Ultrasound? Unsound! Was published.

Choosing a Homebirth
Pat Thomas
Parents’ rights and options when choosing homebirth with guidance on how to get what you want

Choosing a Waterbirth
Beverly Beech
How to arrange a waterbirth, pool rental, hospitals with pools; help to overcome obstacles encountered

Birth after Caesarean
Jenny Lesley
Information regarding choices, including suggestions for ways to make VBAC more likely, and where to go to find support; includes real experiences of women

Risks of Caesarean Sections (AIMS Paper)
A collection of summaries of research papers relating to the risks of caesarean sections. These summaries may be used as a basis for further research into the subject.

Caesarean and VBAC - Articles by Gina Lowdon and Debbie Chippington Derrick (AIMS Paper)
A good starting point for women seeking more information on vaginal birth after caesarean. A collection of articles by Gina and Debbie who have written widely on the subject of caesarean birth and vaginal birth after caesarean.

Birthing Your Baby: The Second Stage
Nadine Pilley Edwards & Beverly Beech
Physiology of second stage of labour, advantages of a more relaxed approach to birth

Delivering Your Placenta: The Third Stage
Nadine Pilley Edwards
The merits and disadvantages of a “managed” (with drugs) vs a more natural third stage

Birthing From Within
Pam England

Ina Mays Guide To Childbirth
Ina May Gaskin

The Gentle Birth Method
Gowri Motha

Childbirth Unmasked
Margaret Jowitt

Immaculate Deception
Suzanne Arms

The Politics of Birth
Sheila Kitzinger

Normal Childbirth
Soo Downe

Vitamin K and the Newborn
Sara Wickham
A thoughtful and fully referenced exploration of the issues surrounding the practice of giving vitamin k as a just-in-case treatment

Vitamin K in Relation to Haemorrhagic Disease of the Newborn (AIMS Paper)
A paper by Joan Donley, OBE, explaining the physiology of vitamin K deficiency, the research, and the alternatives to injectable or oral vitamin K.

Bestfeeding – Why Breastfeeding Is Best For Your Baby
Mary Renfrew Chloe Fisher Suzanne Arms

The Politics of Breastfeeding
Sheila Kitzinger

The Scientification of Love
Michele Odent

The Continuum Concept
J Liedoff

The Natural Child – Parenting from the Heart
Jan Hunt

Baby Wisdom
Deborah Jackson

The Attachment Parenting Book
Dr Sears
Attachment parenting is a highly intuitive, high-touch style of parenting that encourages a strong early attachment, and advocates consistent parental responsiveness to babies' dependency needs. Rather than give parents a strict set of rules about when to breastfeed or when to respond to a cry, The Sears' approach encourages parents to learn and work with their baby's particular cues. Their book focuses on the benefits of attachment parenting for both parent and child, and explains how attachment parenting improves development, makes discipline easier, and even promotes independence. There is further information on attachment parenting for working parents and on weaning your child from attachment parenting, as well as scientific research that
explains why attachment parenting works.

Why Love Matters – How Affection Shapes Your Babies Brain

Three in a Bed – The Benefits of Sleeping With Your Baby
Deborah Jackson

That Baths Got No Taps!
The Millenson family
A short book written by a family about their home waterbirth ideal for talking to young children about the arrival of a baby at home

Vaccination A Parents Dillema
Greg Beattie

The Alternative To Vaccination – Health The Only Immunity
Ian Sinclair


AIMS Occasional Papers

These papers are fully referenced and can help mothers, and care providers,
think through some of the most complex issues of maternity care.

The Benefits and Hazards of Obstetric Care
Beverley Beech outlines the ways in which obstetric care can often lead to poor outcomes for mothers and babies.

Birth is a Normal Process - A Mother's Perspective
This paper discusses women's perceptions of normal childbirth and the way in which technology and centralised hospital birth have undermined this process. Presented to the World Health Organisation Conference in Brazil on Appropriate Technology for Birth.

Drugs in Labour - What Effect Do They Have 20 years Hence?
A comprehensive paper in which AIMS UK Chair Beverley Beech discusses the potential long-term adverse effects, for the baby, of the many drugs used in labour.

The Pregnant Woman's Need for Information: Medicine Use in Pregnancy and Birth
Childbirth campaigner and director of AIMS America, Doris Haire discusses drug usage in pregnancy and birth, and the amount of information and advice given to women.
Presented to the 13th European Symposium on Clinical Pharmacology Evaluation in Drug Control.

Pain Relief in Labour - Women's Perspectives
A paper which discusses the way in which hospitalised birth, and the routine interventions it relies upon, have resulted in women needing drugs for pain relief. This paper was presented to the Maternity Alliance's Conference: Pain Relief in Labour - The Benefits and Risks.